As dawn approached, it was Lin Mo's turn for watch duty.

The previous night watch, Evan, rubbed his sleepy eyes and went back to catch some more sleep. Lin Mo used the campfire's light to observe their surroundings, checked the traps once more, then sat down leaning against a tree near the camp.

The night had passed relatively peacefully, with no magical creatures appearing to attack them. Thanks to the insect repellent, they had slept fairly well, getting at least adequate rest.

The wound on his chest still throbbed with a dull pain. With limited conditions, they had only done basic hemostasis and disinfection, applying some ointment. It would probably take several more days for the wound to fully heal.

Fortunately, it didn't significantly affect his mobility, especially since they faced even more intense combat today.

His gaze briefly drifted, and in the next moment, the familiar panel appeared before his eyes.

【Name】: Lin Mo

【Occupation】: None

【Attributes】:

Strength: 5

Agility: 6

Constitution: 4

Spirit: 5

Magic: 0

【Skills】:

Concealment Lv1 (6/10)

Slash Lv2 (4/20)

He still needed 4 proficiency points to level up his Concealment skill.

Lin Mo recalled when his "Slash" skill had leveled up previously - the improvement between level 1 and 2 had been quite noticeable.

Moreover, Concealment was an evolved "Excellent" quality skill. If he could raise this skill to Lv2, it should provide some help in the upcoming battles.

Mainly because this was his only possible improvement right now.

Slash was still far from reaching level 3, and with a specific destination to reach, it was unlikely he could grind it to completion within a day.

He hoped everything would go smoothly today...

As daybreak approached, the morning light at the horizon awakened the sleeping forest, gradually dissipating the oppressive sense of the unknown that had surrounded them.

Bern was the first to wake up. This adventurer who had taken the longest watch shift showed little fatigue on his face - as an experienced adventurer, he had long grown accustomed to brief rest periods during overnight stays outdoors.

"I'll wake the others. Let's eat something and set out immediately."

Delays risked complications. Ensuring their team's condition was optimal, Bern wished they could immediately fly to that group's camp and settle the decisive battle.

Even though he didn't have much confidence in victory, compared to that, they absolutely couldn't bear the consequences if the information got reported upstream.

Gang members didn't reason with people. When that time came, not just them, but his family, including Evan's parents, could all be implicated.

The two young men rubbed their sleepy eyes and emerged from the tent yawning. Miriam turned to start packing their belongings, while Evan spaced out for about a minute before beginning his simple morning routine.

In about ten minutes, Bern already had meat slices sizzling over the fire. He took out block cheese and placed it on the meat slices like last night, watching it slowly melt...

When it came to food, Bern was surprisingly particular, thoroughly enjoying researching various ways to eat different foods, and never sparing any time invested in this aspect.

As he put it: "In this adventuring business, nobody knows if there'll be another meal, so every meal should be made as good as possible under current conditions."

Today's breakfast was especially important, so he ate with particular care, savoring every bite thoroughly.

In comparison, the other three were more perfunctory, not really in the mood to eat properly, just making do with simple fare.

After swallowing his last piece of bread, Bern stood up, stamped out the campfire, took out the map they had found on that warrior yesterday, verified their route and direction, then led the way forward.

......

"Captain, I've finished drawing."

The muscular, brawny captain took the several drawings that could barely be recognized as human figures from the other person's hand, veins bulging on his arms as he directly threw them back at the man's face.

"This is what you accomplished after drawing all night?"

The man covered his face, looking wronged as he said: "Captain, you know I can't even read words. I've really done my best to draw like this... But I remember those people's appearances. If I see them again, I'll definitely recognize them!"

The captain rolled his eyes: "Save those words to explain to the higher-ups tomorrow."

The man awkwardly smiled, not daring to respond.

"Speaking of which, Captain, that bastard North seemed to have carried a map of our camp location. Could they follow the map to find us?"

Another junior member dressed as an assassin nearby spoke up.

"You're overthinking it, Pat."

As soon as these words were spoken, someone immediately refuted him: "Although North was a bit stupid, he was quite loyal. He wouldn't leak things he shouldn't talk about, so that group most likely doesn't know our origins at most treating it as some treasure map."

"Besides, they're injured. They probably won't choose to continue adventuring and should have returned to town by now."

Pat thought about it and found it reasonable, somewhat helplessly shaking his head: "What a pity. If possible, I'd still like to personally avenge Master Taine."

He came from humble origins. If Taine hadn't recognized his talent and taught him skills, he'd probably still be the lowest-level gang member doing odd jobs. Although they never formally established a master-disciple relationship, to him, Taine was his teacher.

"That person's strength is truly remarkable..."

The rapier warrior with the red mark on his face recalled yesterday's scene. "Not just Taine, but Ciri also died by his hand."

Thinking about this made him feel a lingering fear - if the other party hadn't been injured, he probably wouldn't have escaped either.

"Look at you, scared like that, Mero. Didn't I say they should have returned already? If they really dare come looking for us, they're just delivering themselves to death."

"That's true, especially since we have the Captain here..."

Mero nodded. Their captain had completely mastered his professional skills, just one step away from becoming a full professional warrior!

No matter how skilled that young punk might be, he couldn't cause any trouble before the captain.

"I'm going out to take a leak."

"Be careful now, don't get your throat slit secretly..."

Mero remembered how the other had mocked him earlier and laughingly cursed back.

"I'm not a coward like you, Mero. Save your energy if you want to scare me."

The man sneered, waved his hand, and walked outside the tent.

Although he said that, he was actually quite cautious, specifically choosing a spot far from grass but close to traps, so even if someone was really ambushing, they wouldn't have a chance to sneak up on him.

After observing his surroundings and confirming nobody was there, he undid his pants and began to relieve himself.

"Ah~"

And so this comfortable short exhale became his final sound...

The trap's location was approximately three meters to the target's front right side, and twenty-one meters to the right.

Lin Mo crouched on a tree branch, recalling the information Bern had just told him.

Nobody was following behind him either. Wind direction—

"Rustle."

The moment the wind blew past, Lin Mo's figure shot out like a sharp sword. Under the cover of the wind, his movements made almost no sound.

Only when a shadow appeared in his peripheral vision did the man realize something.

But it was already too late. The moment he inhaled to shout while simultaneously counterattacking, a short blade had already precisely pierced through his throat.